Hiraishin!
by BluApocalyptica
Summary: Who was Namikaze Minato? How did he come to be? Why are there no other Namikaze in Konoha? And what does Naruto have to do with it? Time-Travel in a different way. Adopted from Dream Keys. Revised by BluApocalyptica.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto! And in some odd chance that I _did_ end up as the sole owner of Naruto... no. That is better left unsaid.

**Prologue: Legacy Rebirth**

* * *

October Tenth.

Uzumaki Naruto was brought into the world, kicking and screaming. He was the spitting image of his father.

Only half an hour afterwards, the Kyuubi was sealed inside of him by the Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato. Namikaze Minato.

The Fourth wobbled on his feet as the Hakke Fuuin was complete and the Shinigami drained him of his very existence. His eyes landed on the peaceful form of his son and he gave his best apologetic smile.

"I apologize... Naruto-kun. I... always wondered if the Hokage hated me... now I understand. We are the same." With that cryptic statement, the Kiiroi Senko collapsed. His smile was the last expression he wore as the Shinigami finished claiming his soul.

XxX

Uzumaki Naruto grew up hated by the rest of the Leaf without knowing the reason why. He heard the spiteful comments aimed in his direction or the felt the occasional glare when he wasn't looking and they hurt. Hating the feeling of being shoved aside and forgotten, he turned to pranking others in order to gain recognition.

Then he graduated from the Ninja Academy.

Prior to achieving this, Touji Mizuki revealed the reason why he was shunned by the people of Konoha. He learned the reason why the civilians believed he was some kind of monster in disguise.

The Nine-Tailed Fox was inside of him. Uzumaki Naruto was a container, a living sacrifice, a Jinchuuriki.

XxX

Team Seven.

Team Kakashi.

These were the names of his squad of Genin. His teacher, Hatake Kakashi, was habitually late for everything and had an unhealthy addiction to porn. His teammates were Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. The former was the Rookie of the Year. The later was his crush of several years now.

It was understandable to assume that they had trouble at first, but they survived. Wave Country, a situation that was so far above their heads, had pulled them closer together than ever before.

XxX

They had been in Konoha for a little while when Hatake Kakashi decided to nominate them for the Chuunin Selection Exams. Being the young and impatient children that they were, Team Seven had agreed to take part in it. When they entered the pre-exam room, they realized that they were still rookies compared to most of the other Genin in the room.

The proctor's name was Morion Ibiki. One hour, and the first exam was over. Uzumaki Naruto passed only because of his determination to not fail.

There was a survival test. A man wearing a Kusa Genin's face attacked Team Kakashi. Sasuke was branded with a strange mark with three tomoe in a triangular fashion. Exhausted, and helped along by a fellow Konoha Genin by the name of Yakushi Kabuto, the team barely made it through to the third and final round. However, there were too many people left and preliminaries were held.

Uzumaki Naruto fought Inuzuka Kiba. A combination of good luck and creative thinking enabled him to pass.

XxX

Uzumaki Naruto was happy - he had passed the preliminaries and was going onto the final stage of the Chuunin Exams, which was to be held in front of a large audience with civilian and shinobi alike looking on. He had asked Hatake Kakashi for training but he was denied _in favor of Uchiha Sasuke_.

The bitter feeling of betrayal slowly passed.

He was passed onto the tutelage of Ashiya Ebisu, someone whom Uzumaki Naruto believed he could already defeat. Contemptuous, he sneered at the man. However, the Tokubetsu Jounin proved that he was worthy of the title and surprised him. He agreed to let Ashiya Ebisu teach him.

XxX

The man taught him chakra control in the form of walking on water.

He was interrupted halfway through with the appearence of an apparent pervert.

Angry at the loss of his teacher, Uzumaki Naruto demanded training from the white-haired man. He introduced himself as Jiraiya of the Sannin. The Toad Sage taught him the art of summoning.

One Gamabunta later and Uzumaki Naruto was finally starting to feel a little momentum on his side.

XxX

Uzumaki Naruto defeated Hyuuga Neji, the prodigy of the Hyuuga clan and the previous Rookie of the Year.

It was to be expected. He had sworn an oath to defeat him and Uzumaki Naruto never broke a promise.

Uchiha Sasuke arrived late. His match was delayed until the end of the first round of the tournament. His opponent was Gaara of the Desert.

A short while after the match started, chaos broke loose.

Suna-nin and Oto-nin invaded the Hidden Leaf together as one force. Uzumaki Naruto, along with Nara Shikamaru, Haruno Sakura, and Aburame Shino were instructed to - _go on their second A-ranked mission _- follow Uchiha Sasuke, who was pursuing Gaara and his siblings.

Uzumaki Naruto made it there only to see Uchiha Sasuke writing in agony, clutching something on the left side of his neck, and Haruno Sakura pinned to a tree with a slowly tightening arm of sand.

Gamabunta was summoned. Gaara transformed into Shukaku. Soon the fight was over with many of the trees scattered and the Suna boy laying on the ground, defenseless. His siblings appeared and the three fled.

And Uzumaki Naruto stayed long behind, staring in the direction the redhead had gone. He had finally found a fellow Jinchuuriki.

XxX

He mourned the death of the Sandaime, Sarutobi Hiruzen's death in his somber black attire.

XxX

Uchiha Sasuke deserted soon afterwards. Uzumaki Naruto vowed to bring him back. Operation Retrieve Sasuke began under the direction of newly promoted Chuunin; Nara Shikamaru.

They failed.

It wasn't that they couldn't defeat the Sound Four. It was because of Uzumaki Naruto's personal failure when he attempted to bring Uchiha Sasuke back.

The Curse Seal of Heaven was too powerful.

He left on a three year training trip with Jiraiya.

XxX

When Uzumaki Naruto returned, much had happened. Immediately he was sent on a mission to help the Godaime Kazekage. Akatsuki had started to mobilize and by the time his team reached their headquarters... Gaara was dead. Shukaku was extracted.

Chiyo, the very same woman that had sealed the Ichibi into Gaara, used a life restoring technique. Gaara was ressurrected at the cost of her life.

XxX

Uzumaki Naruto returned to the Leaf with a bright smile. This feeling wouldn't last for long.

Over the course of the next nine months, more had happened than in the last four.

Sarutobi Asuma had taught him Elemental Manipulation. Hatake Kakashi and Yamato of the Wood Release taught him to combine Elemental Manipulation and Shape Manipulation in order to perfect the Rasengan. The Rasenshuriken was created.

Following the demise of Jiraiya of the Sannin, Uzumaki Naruto left in the company of the Toad Sage Fukasaku for Mount Myoboku. He was instructed in the ways of Natural Energy and granted the title of Toad Sage upon the completion of his training.

Uzumaki Naruto defeated Pain upon his arrival and instigated the revival of everyone in Konohagakure no Sato.

Then the Fourth Shinobi World War started.

Uchiha Madara or Uchiha Obito later succeeded in capturing a portion of the Hachibi and Kyuubi, respectively. With the mediocre amount that he had stolen, he was able to revive the Progenitor of the Bijuu. It was the Juubi. Once known as the Shinju or God Tree.

The Allied Shinobi Forces fought with everything that they had. Uzumaki Naruto finished the fighting by defeating Uchiha Madara alongside Uchiha Obito and pulling the Bijuu out of him and restoring them.

Following the conclusion of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Uzumaki Naruto began his studies in Fuuinjutsu.

XxX

"Naruto-kun?" Kakashi's voice knocked him out of his slumber.

"What?" The sleepy mumble from the pallet was the only noise that came from Naruto. The two were in a small clearing behind the Hokage Monument, experimenting on the Hiraishin.

Kakashi chuckled fondly and used a Water Release technique on Naruto, causing him to splutter and immediately exit his pallet with a speed that rivaled Rock Lee. As he dried himself, Kakashi reached into one of the pockets of his flak jacket and brought out an odd looking three pronged kunai with kanji written on the handle.

"What's that?" Naruto asked, barely taking a look at the kunai as he stretched and grabbed an empty scroll from his utility pouch.

"This," Kakashi said, "is what Minato-sensei used as the marker for the Flying Thunder God technique."

At this, Naruto snatched the kunai out of his hands and immediately started turning it over and examining it. "The seal array... they're identical," he mumbled as he jotted something down on his scroll. He continued to speak to himself for a while until Kakashi cleared his throat.

"Well..." he announced, "It seems like you're quite busy over there. I'll see you later!" The silver-haired Jounin gave his patented smile as he stood. Naruto, far too engrossed in the intricacies of the kunai, waved a flippant hand at him.

"Yeah, yeah, Kakashi-sensei," the demon container murmured, not looking up and seeing Kakashi's mock hurt at being brushed off so easily. "See you later."

Kakashi sulked for a moment before leaping away, his faux-dark mood lifting as he imagined rereading some of the passages of Icha Icha Tactics.

XxX

Naruto sat back on his heels, bored. After an hour of examining and experimenting with the Hiraishin kunai, he thought he nearly had the technique down. He glanced at the near-midday sun and back at the scroll he had hastily scribbled the kunai's original seal array on.

Picking up his ink brush, Naruto dipped it in the portable ink container located at the head of the scroll ( given to him courtesy of Sai) and looked at the arrangement again, before shrugging and doodling random seals on the scroll, figuring that he wouldn't really have a use for the written down seal arrangement again.

The not quite eighteen year old boy sighed as he looked longingly at the three pronged kunai, slipping a finger through the hole at the end and letting it danle, unknowingly copying a pose form the Fourth himself. Kakashi had expressly forbidden him from trying out the Hiraishin technique without him being present... but in all honesty, one try couldn't hurt, right?

Naruto stood up slowly, the slightly stunted grass tickling the bare soles of his feet as he absentmindedly twirled the kunai around his finger. He calculated the amount of chakra he would have to push into the technique and, without thinking, abruptly halted movement and brought the kunai into a guard position - or tried to.

"Damn it!"

He cursed as blood trickled down his finger from the shadllow cut he had accidentally made with his kunai. He had forgotten that the Hiraishin kunai was longer - and much different in shape - compared to the standard ones.

Naruto looked around the area once more before selecting a tree to throw the kunai at. He twisted, preparing to shoot his chakra out, but stopped a second before going through with the technique.

'I should probably practice throwing the damn thing before even trying," the Uzumaki thought ruefully, snapping his arm back and hurling it at the tree.

XxX

Kakashi looked up from his perch on a tree above the Memorial Stone, a stray breeze moving through the area. He frowned momentarily as he eyed the position of the sun in the sky, questioning how he had allowed time to pass him by.

'I should probably check on Naruto to see how he's progressing.'

XxX

Senju Tsunade was in the middle of reading a mission debriefing that was written by Yuuhi Kurenai when Katou Shizune rushed in, not even bothering to stop and knock.

"Look, Lady Tsunade!" the raven gasped, thrusting a newspaper in her face. Tsunade snatched the newspaper out of the other medic-nin's hands and furiously skimmed through.

'Damn...' she cursed as her eyes took in the gambling section.

There on the paper, Senju Tsunade had won the grand lottery prize.

Tsunade raced to the window facing the Hokage Monument as a huge shockwave blased through the entire settlement.

'Earthquake?' she thought, before discarding the idea. 'No, couldn't be. The source is from the top of the Hokage Monument.' She turned around again, before...

The Fifth blinked stupidly for a second before whipping around as another blast shook the Hokage Tower.

"Naruto!" she exclaimed, already jumping out of the window, chakra grasping onto the walls. "He's on top of the Monument!"

XxX

"What in the Leaf was that?" Kakashi mumbled as the first jolt caused the ground beneath him to quiver. He took on look at the Hokage Monument before setting off at a dead run for where he knew Naruto was located.

XxX

"_Hiraishin_!"

Naruto flung the sealed kunai at the tree, concentrating on the thin line of chakra that connected him and the weapon, smiling in satisfaction as he felt the slight tug... only to look in horr as some kind of swirling vortex of light swallowed him, making him see black spots in his vision. Through the light, he could dimly make out the seals on the scroll he had experimented, and a small splatter of blood on it. His eyes widened in realization.

"_Damn it_!" _Naruto cursed as blood trickled down his finger from the shallow cut he had accidently made with his kunai._

The seal flashed a violent yellow and Naruto groaned, clapping his hands over his eyes as the supernova threatened to blind him.

"**What are you doing, Naruto?!**" Kurama roared as his container twisted and collapsed in agony. A low keening aound started, quickly rising in pitch and volume until it was a vicious high pitched whine that felt like it could puncture the blond's ears.

"S... Seal," the Uzumaki choked out as Tsunade landed at the edge of the churning vortex. "Tsunade-baachan!"

"Naruto-kun!" she cried out in helpless dismay as the intense brightness all but engulfed her surrogate brother. Next to her, Kakashi climbed the last few steps of the Hokage Monument and hurried to her side.

"**I see...**" the Kyuubi stated, sounding almost... nostalgic. "**Now I understand what Minato-baka meant when he sealed me...**"

"What?" Naruto gasped as the current around him increased. The air felt alive with electricity. A wave of nausea overtook him and he retched, involuntarily opening his eyes and flinching back in pain. There was nothing but the piercing yellow light.

"**There is nothing you can do to stop this,**" Kurama remarked, the sadness in his voice almost palpable. "**Good luck, Naruto-kun. The future won't know what hit them... or the past, should I say?**"

'_What are you talking about, Kurama-kun?_' Naruto yelped as his chakra spiraled out of his control and mized with the already virulent, painful light.

_"I apologize... Naruto-kun. I... always wondered..."_

_"Hiraishin!"_

_"Don't worry-"_

_"-chan. I promise!"_

"Tsunade-baachan! Kakashi-sensei!"

And with that, Uzumaki Naruto vanished from the world in a yellow storm of chakra and light.

XxX

"... appears that..."

"... awaken-"

"-Doctor... send..."

"Send for a bloody Medic!" a voice demanded. There was a brief silence, punctured by the soft pitter-patter of running feet. Naruto grunted as the noise seemed to aomplify itself by a hundredfold. Slowly opening his eyes and half expecting to be blinded by the golden light, Naruto became aware that he was laying in a hospital bed. Left to stare at the ceiling of the immaculate and sterile hospital room. The Uzumaki groaned and closed his eyes once more.

"Ah, you're awake," a calm male voice interrupted his moment of blissful silence.

"Whhoareyoo?" the Jonin slurred, head pounding as he feebly tried to lift himself up off the bed. "Where am I?" The male's hand gently pushed him back down.

"Relax, would you?" the man chuckled softly.

"My name is Yakushi Tetsuya. You are in Konoha Hospital."

'_Yakushi?_' the Uzumaki thought, his half-asleep mind churning the information over furiously. After a few seconds, the realization hit him. '_Kabuto?_'

Naruto snapped his eyes open and stared at the newly revealed brunette at the foot of the bed. He appeared to be in his mid- to late twenties.

Tetsuya tied the clipboard he was holding onto a piece of string on the bedframe. Then he walked over and extended a glowing green hand across Naruto's chest.

"I'm running a diagnostic," the medic-nin explained. "You appear to be clean now. But in the next few hours, you'll have a rather large bruise on your head."

Naruto blinked a few times. There was something wrong about all of this.

"Um... Tetsuya-san," the Jinchuuriki began. His voice was raspy from disuse. "How did I get here?" In the recesses of his mind, he questioned the obvious.

Had Tsunade and Kakashi taken him here after the accident?

Tetsuya raised his eyebrows in curiosity. "You don't remember?" he asked, then shook his head as he realized something. "I guess that isn't really a surprise. You did give yourself a concussion, after all. The Chuunin in charge of your class brought you in. He said that you had slipped in the hallway and smacked your head on the floor."

The man glanced at his watch.

"Look. I apologize but I can't stay here for much longer. The Third is expecting me in a few minutes." He began to turn around.

Naruto's eyes widened. Sandaime? "Wait!"

"What do you mean the Thi-"

"Tetsuya-san!"

Tetsuya turned back to Naruto with a pleading expression on his face. "I've got to run. I promise I'll talk to you later!" the young man turned back around and opened the door. "I am on the way, Tsuke-san!"

The door slammed shut.

Naruto tore off the sheets and jumped out of the bed, grimacing slightly at his hospital gown and the feel of the cold tiles underneath his bare feet. He hurried to the window and stared at the faces of the three Hokage on the side of the Monument.

Three.

Hold on.

Three?

The Jinchuuriki rubbed his eyes and stared at the unmarked face of the Sandaime. He slowly arranged his hands in the seal for _Ram_.

"Kai!"

Nothing.

'_What... what is going on?_' Naruto thought. His heart was beating a mile a minute and he felt like he couldn't get a breath in. '_Is this the result of that stupid seal I made?_'

The door opened and a nurse stepped into the room.

"What are you doing out of bed, young man?" she questioned, pointing back at the bed with a stern finger. "Get back in there at once!"

By the Sage was she tall, the Uzumaki thought dumbly. Or was he just shorter? However, he disregarded that thought as he frantically tried to come up with some kind of excuse to save himself.

"I... just needed to use the bathroom," Naruto replied lamely, looking as pathetic as possible.

"Oh! That's okay then," the woman said brightly, any suspicion clearing from her face. "I'll show you the way."

XxX

When he looked in the mirror, Naruto got one of the biggest shocks in his entire life. He blinked at the mirror stupidly.

The face of an unfamiliar child blinked back.

This child had spiky blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes. In fact, he looked almost exactly like what Naruto looked like when _he_ was just a child. Except this one had a slightly more narrow jawline and more defined cheekbones.

Well.

For a child.

It was like a distorted reflection of his younger self.

However, the face that stared back at Naruto didn't have the patented whisker marks. This boy couldn't be him, the Jinchuuriki decided. He looked far too much like the boy in the picture that Jiraiya had shown him of his old students...

His eyes widened as his mind slowly connected the dots.

No.

Hell.

No.

There was no way!

Naruto snapped back into the present as the nurse knocked on the door outside.

"Are you finished in there?" she questioned, her voice tinged with impatience.

"... yeah," the Uzumaki replied. There was only one way to find out for sure.

In his room, Naruto turned around to face the nurse.

"Um... do you know my name?" he asked, wringing his hands together nervously. The lady looked at him in surprise.

"You can't remember?" she asked, looked visibly surprised. "You must have hit your head pretty hard."

"Do you know?" Naruto prodded further.

The nurse gestured toward the clipboard at the foot of his bed.

"The Chuunin that dropped you off told us your name. He said your name was Namikaze Minato," she revealed. "It's my lunch break now, Minato-kun. I should go now."

She left the room, closing the door gently behind her.

Naruto rushed to the clipboard in a frenzy.

Name; _Namikaze Minato_.

Date of Birth; _January Twenty-Fifth_.

Age; _Eight_.

Blood Type; _B_.

* * *

**I am going to assume that some of you would happen to recognize this chapter. It has undergone some revisions to better suit my own style of writing but in all honesty, I can't take much credit for this chapter. The original story was written... what was it? Three. Four? It was either three or four years ago by Dream Keys. He never finished the story.**

**He gave the option for someone else to take up the story under their name and complete it. Obviously I've decided to take up that mantle. The story will undergo several changes to better suit the information that's been released with the manga nowadays. But the general idea behind it remains the same. Naruto uses the Hiraishin, messes up the seal by accident, and ends up in the body of his own father. Namikaze Minato.**

**No. I don't have a Beta Reader, at the moment. You will have to excuse me for any errors that you'll happen to spot. At any rate!**

**BluApocalyptica signing off for the first time!**


	2. Chapter One

Disclaimer; I don't own Naruto. In the unlikely chance that I am in fact the owner of the series- no. I won't even think about that.

**Chapter One; Friendship**

* * *

Naruto spent the remainder of the day and then the next morning trying to get his head around his new situation. Clearly, something had happened when he had activated the seal - the question was what? And how he had ended up _here_, in the childhood form of his father?

Twice, he had caught himself breathing faster and the heart monitor speeding up in urgency. Taking deep, calming breaths each time, Naruto had forced himself to calm down.

'_You're a ninja_,' he berated himself silently as Tetsuya entered the room. '_Play along until you can figure out what's going on._'

"Hey, Minato-kun," Tetsuya greeted, smiling. "I just wanted to come by and check on you. You've had long enough to recover from that nasty fall and the nurse just told me that the bruise was dealt with earlier this morning."

Naruto looked up and felt quite disconcerted by the height difference between the two of them. To compensate, he stood up and pushed away from the bed. "And?"

"Well if you are in good condition, we can release you from the hospital."

The Jinchuuriki barely remembered to plaster a look of relief on his face before Tetsuya felt that something was unusual. "Alright," he replied. His hand trembled with trepidation and he had to force it to stop moving. The Medic-Nin didn't seem to notice. In the recesses of his mind, the young blonde hadn't forgotten what the Head of the Konoha Hospital had told him the day before, nor could he shake the view of the Hokage Monument out of the forefront of his mind.

He only had one option left; to move forward.

XxX

Naruto had glimpsed at the clipboard for more information before he was discharged from the medical center. It would've been suspicious if he hadn't even remembered where he lived... or where his father lived. This situation was confusing! Coincidently, they lived in the same apartment. He had a feeling that the Third had a hand in that in the future, giving him some kind of connection to his late parent.

Not that he ever knew.

"Minato-kun?"

He looked up and realized that he had been in the hallway for... quite some time now. The sun had moved a little from what he could see out of the nearest window. Shortly afterward, he put all of his attention on the lady in the doorway. She was fairly short and wasn't much taller than he was. He placed her age to be somewhere in her early to mid-teen years. Her hair was pitch black in tone and came to just above her shoulders, reminding him of Shizune. And her eyes were blue like the sky itself.

'_Aiko_,' a voice in the back of his head supplied.

"Aiko-chan?"

The woman smiled at him and moved enough to let him squeeze on by, something that the blonde took no time in exploiting.

"Why were just standing there in the hallway? Hold on!"

Naruto turned to regard her with a calm gaze. "Yes?"

"You were thinking about Kushina-chan again, weren't you?"

And just like that, the calm facade was gone. His face lit up bright red as he sputtered. She thought he was thinking about his mother? What in the name of the Sage was she thinking! In her defense, Aiko didn't know that the redhead was his mother. Technically, she wasn't. He was Namikaze Minato. The future Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato and _Husband_ of Uzumaki Kushina. Third Jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox.

But _he_ was Uzumaki Naruto.

Aiko just laughed at his expression and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't stress yourself. I am plenty sure that she'll see how great you are at some point, Minato-kun."

He just sulked in reply and walked off to his room in silence. What he assumed was his caretaker watched him leave with a grin on her face.

XxX

"You asked for me, Tsunade-sama?" Kakashi questioned, climbing through the large window that overlooked the village. The silver-haired Jounin had seemed to retreat into himself ever since Naruto had vanished. "I am guessing it's important."

"It is," Tsunade revealed, reaching behind her desk. "Look at this."

XxX

Naruto found that, when he looked in his closet, he had quite a few spare outfits. He was really thankful for that.

He exchanged his plain grey clothes for a white shirt, blue shorts, and a grey jacket with green lines on the sleeves. His hand momentarily paused around his right thigh as he tied on an imaginary kunai holster. Then he righted himself and sank down slowly on his bed, closing his eyes.

XxX

Naruto opened his eyes to the familiar sewer like tunnels of his mind, slogging through the water in the familiar path to bring him to Kurama. So lost in his thoughts was he that he didn't realize that he had arrived at the cage until a good minute later.

Or rather, where the Nine-Tails' cage used to be.

It wasn't the fact that the Fox was gone that bothered him. It was that _the prison itself was gone, as if it had never existed_.

Naruto felt his eyes widen and his mouth drop open through the distant roar in his head. Where was the Bijuu?

"Kurama!" Naruto shouted, cupping his hands to his mouth. The lack of a cage disturbed him and a faint note of hysteria entered his voice. "Where the hell are you?"

The answer suddenly fell on him like a ton of bricks. Of course the Kyuubi wasn't there. Kurama was still locked inside of his mother and would stay there for the next decade or two. Until _he_ was born.

"Damn it!" he hissed. Now he'd never get his questions answered.

"Would you quiet down a little?" came a soft voice from behind him. "You're going to give me a bad reputation with that unholy screaming."

Naruto shipped around, slightly off balance from the new voice. "Who are you?" the Uzumaki demanded into the darkness.

Out of the shadows, a blonde-haired man stepped out. He was clad in a white trench coat decorated with red flames fluttering around his wiry frame.

"Hello, Naruto-kun."

"Dad," Naruto whispered, stumbling back for each step the Fourth took forward. "What are you doing in my mind?"

The man laughed. "I'm not actually in your mind," Namikaze Minato told him. "I'm not even really the Fourth. You are. Or you will be, at any rate."

"Then who are you?" Naruto snapped. His hand drifted to his thigh, where his kunai holster was supposed to be.

"An echo," came the elusive answer. "An echo of your future and past."

"Answer the question, damn it!" Naruto growled, his patience coming to an end.

Minato was silent for awhile, only fueling the fire that was Naruto's irritation. Finally, he spoke. "You are now Namikaze Minato," he said. "Believe me, you are not the first. But you have to preserve the timeline."

"What do you mean?" the Jinchuuriki demanded. "What are you talking about?"

Slowly, the Fourth started fading. The younger blonde rushed forward. "Don't run away, you coward!"

"I can't tell you yet," Minato said. "You have to figure out the rest for yourself. I apologize, but it was the same when I came here."

He was almost gone now. Before he completely vanished, he offered one last sentence.

"Whatever happens will happen right, and everything will work out in the end."

He disappeared completely and Naruto slumped, dejected.

'_What does he mean_?'

XxX

Naruto woke slowly, blinking against the glare of the noon day sun through his closed window. He leaped off the bed and walked over to the window, opening it and relaxing in the presence of the bright sun. Then he stiffened.

He took a tentative sniff of the air and gasped in ecstasy as a certain aroma wafted across his nose.

"Yes!" the Uzumaki screamed. He sped out of his apartment, amusing Aiko to no end. He was careful to pocket his keys. He almost leaped out of the window in his excitement, but reined in the impulse at the last second, figuring that someone that was still in the beginning semester of the Ninja Academy would lack that capability.

Instead he slammed his hand on the 'down' button on the wall beside the elevator. Too impatient to wait for the lift to arrive, the blonde boy instead raced down the fire escape stairs and burst out on to the open street. He continued following his nose.

Ichiraku Ramen was situated at the exact same place as he remembered.

'_At least some things never change_.' He quickly crossed the street and walked into the stand, struggling for a moment to clamber into the highest stool there.

"I want a large Miso, please!" Naruto beamed at the wrinkle free Teuchi, who saluted and immediately turned to his customer.

"Hey there, young man!" he greeted, smiling. "What's your name?"

"Nar- ... uh, Namikaze Minato," the Jinchuuriki replied. He had to stutter as the unfamiliar name passed through his lips.

"Well then, Minato-kun!" Teuchi began, "I am Ichiraku Teuchi. Here's your name, on the house for a first time customer like you!"

"Thanks, Teuchi-san!" Naruto grinned as he dug into his precious noodles.

Ten bowls of ramen later, and leaving a rather shocked ramen bar owner behind, Naruto left the stand.

XxX

The rest of the day followed that same trend.

Naruto investigated the rest of the settlement in curiosity.

The old Leaf, the Uzumaki decided, was much the same as the one he was born and raised in. Most of the shops were at the same places and the atmosphere of the general crowd was the same. But the main difference was the lack of looks from the civilians. In his childhood, they had glared and spat upon his name. In his adolescent years, they had started to recognize him for who he was and not his burden. They had praised him.

In his adulthood... they had worshipped the ground that he walked on.

Such was the curse of being the Jinchuuriki of Kurama. Or the strongest shinobi in the world, following the defeat of Uchiha Madara. He had never learned the actual reason behind their actions.

XxX

"A letter," Tsunade said dully. "From the Third."

Kakashi's eyes widened as he crossed the room in three strides and peered at the old yellowed paper in the Slug Sannin's hands. "What does it say?" he asked.

Tsunade said nothing, but undid the string and withdrew the letter.

XxX

Naruto collapsed onto his bed, his mind a whirlpool of emotions. He recalled the past day as he pulled the covers over himself. Somehow, he was in the past version of Konohgakure no Sato, in a body that was not his own, and an echo of his father running around in his head.

Gradually, tiredness overtook him and Naruto sank into a deep, dreamless sleep. Hopefully, the next morning would bring answers.

XxX

_Dear Tsunade, ( or whoever else may be reading this letter )_

_If you are reading this, then it must mean that I myself am now deceased from my battle with Orochimaru. Naruto himself has already activated what he likes to call the _Jikoku Fuuin_. How I know this, you may ask. The answer is quite simple indeed. Naruto himself told me personally, although I believe he is unaware that I am keeping a record of this._

_I will now seal this letter in a concealed space-time pocket in the third drawer of my desk in the Hokage office, covered by a triple-layer Genjutsu until both of two things occur- my death, and the activation of Naruto's seal._

_Naruto explained to me that you would become the Godaime after my death, Tsunade. I am sure that the Leaf is safe in your capable hands. And please, if Kakashi is around, ask him to read this letter as well._

_That being said, I hereby declare this correspondence an S-class secret. Do not ever speak of this to anyone else. In Naruto's words, 'tattle to someone and the whole universe might collapse upon us.'_

_Perhaps you are wondering what in the name of the Sage I am talking about- and how Naruto knows that you will end up as the next Hokage. Once again, the answer is quite simple._

_You must be confused, Tsunade. After all, this paper looks very old._

_You are correct. If I am correct in my calculations, this letter was written thirty years ago- now you must be wondering, how could Naruto have told all of this to you if he hadn't even been born yet? Naruto is very much alive, although not in the form and name you know him by. In fact, he goes by the name of Namikaze Minato at the moment._

_Don't look so surprised, Tsunade. You knew him years ago as one of Jiraiya's brilliant students._

_Now, I don't particularly understand what exactly the _Jikoku Fuuin _entails as it was one of Minato's... sorry, Naruto's spur of the moment actions. By the way he described it, Naruto believes that everything will work out well._

_Once you have finished reading this, destroy it and scatter the ashes. I will rest more easily knowing that the letter and the information within is safe. Live well, Tsunade, Kakashi, and do not regret Naruto's leaving - only know that he is having the time of his life as his own father, the Yellow Flash._

_Hiruzen Sarutobi._

_Sandaime Hokage._

XxX

Naruto knew that his chakra was off the moment he 'poked' at the small pond that was his reserves. He vaguely remembered that his chakra had felt a little different when he had awoken in the hospital room, but he had no idea it would be like this. The blonde sighed.

'_Back to Genin-level reserves_,' the Jinchuuriki thought glumly to himself.

Naruto absentmindedly prepared some instant ramen as he juggled with a milk carton, before setting both foodstuffs onto his table. As he slurped up the precious ramen, he reflected on his stay in Konoha.

Life had been good in the few weeks that he had stayed in Konoha, and he was slowly becoming accustomed to the small differences between this life and his own - starting with the non-existent attention of the villages. He still went around town with a sense of caution and intrigue, though, convinced that he would be found out for the imposter that he was at any moment.

He arched his back in a long, sinuous stretch before getting up and placing his bowl in the sink. He pulled on his sandals and stomped around in them for a bit, making sure they were securely attached, before exiting the apartment and locking the door behind him. Aiko was already awake and gone. Pocketing the key, Naruto jogged to the elevator and pressed the ground leve button.

It was time to start training again.

XxX

After saying his customary greetings to a few friendly shopkeeps with stalls close to his unit, especially Teuchi from Ichiraku, Naruto started jogging slowly through the village's cobble stoned streets. He was pleased to notice that there were not too many people about due to the early hour of the day. He hoped that his child's body wasn't too out of shape, but then remembered that he had years ahead of him to shape up his physique and speed.

Naruto was pleased to notice that he still contained a large amount of stamina, although nowhere near the freakish amounts that he had when he housed Kurama.

He ended up near a Chunin training ground, slightly out of breath but pleased with his performance so far. He rested for a few minutes before starting again at a slightly more punishing pace.

After the Jinchuuriki was comfortable with the pace he was setting, he let his body go on autopilot while he mused to himself in his mind. He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn't realize he had drifted slightly off course and was now heading rapidly toward someone.

Swerving, Naruto narroely avoided crashing into that person.

"Whoa, slow down!" a voice exclaimed, although not unkindly.

Naruto thundered to a stop and turned, sheepishly. "Sorry, mister," the blonde replied, a note of apology entering his tone before he raised his head and took a good look at the man in front of him. "Tetsuya-san!" he exclaimed. Yakushi Tetsuya, Head Medic-nin of the Konoha General Hospital, looked surprised.

"You have good memory, Minato-kun," he replied, smiling. He shifted, and Naruto noticed a boy of about his age standing behind the man. Seeing where he was looking, Tetsuya nudged the boy forward.

"This' my son, Katsuo-kun," Tetsuya told him. "He's about your age, I think."

"Hi," Katsuo mumbled, looking down.

"Hey!" Naruto grinned back. "I'm Na-... Namikaze Minato!"

Tetsuya smiled at the two before looking curiously at the terrain around them. "What are you doing around the outskirts of Konoha?" he asked Naruto. "It's not a very popular place to visit."

"I've got as much right - !" Naruto started to say, but cut himself short, realizing that he sounded extremely rude. "I mean, I was just running around here, Tetsuya-san! I heard a couple of people say that heaps of cool ninja trained here!" Even as he said it, Naruto cursed inwards, hoping that he hadn't overdone it. He shouldn't have worried though, as the Medic-nin didn't seem to mind his curiosity.

"Katsuo-kun has also been pestering me about wanting to watch the Chunin train," he replied, smiling.

"_Chunin_?" Naruto whispered, his eyes going wide, although inside he was cracking up. Maybe pretending to be a eight year old with the mindset of one thrice his age wasn't as bad as it originally seemed to be.

Katsuo crossed his arms and beamed with pride. "Chichi says some of the ninja around here are really cool!"

"Perhaps you should come around to visit sometime, Minato-kun?" Tetsuya offered. "I'm sure my wife and Katsuo-kun would love to have you over. We live just over the hill there."

Naruto squinted. It seemed like a rather isolated place in Konoha to be living in to him, but he refused to comment.

"Thanks, oyaji!" he yelled. Then he laughed before running off, leaving behind an amused son and a slightly miffed father.

On the way back from the training grounds, Naruto belatedly realized that Katsuo must have been Kabuto's adoptive father.

XxX

After his morning run, Naruto headed back to central Konoha, not surprised one bit to see that the streets were full of bustling civilians going about their daily lives. He ducked into a grocery store, intent on finding some greens to hoard as well as eat for lunch.

"Morning, Kenta-san!" he yelled over to the shopkeeper. The big burly man grinned and waved back.

"Morning to you as well, Minato-kun!" he called, before turning back to one of his customers. Naruto browsed amongst the store, looking for any familiar looking vegetables that he could buy. Kakashi and Iruka together had plotted to make Naruto eat his greens once, back in his Leaf. Following this, Naruto had had a rather large growth spurt, leaving him as tall as Neji or Lee. Naruto had never complained about vegetables again, much to Kakashi and Iruka's eternal amusement.

Smiling at the memory, Naruto stepped up to the counter to ring up his purchases. After saying his goodbyes to Kenta with a promise to come back soon, Naruto returned with his shopping to number thirteen.

When he opened the door, the delicious smell of cooking ramen hit his nose and Naruto bounded in, intent on finding the chef.

"Hey there, Minato-kun," Aiko greeted cheerfully as she stepped out of the small kitchen to greet Naruto. The black-haired kunoichi was wearing a cooking apron and had a wooden ladle in her hand. The image almost made Naruto laugh, but he settled for a cleverly disguised snort instead.

"Hey, Aiko-chan!" he replied as he noticed the small scratch marks around Aiko's face and the few tears in her ninja garments under the apron. "What happened to you?"

While he waited for an answer, Naruto puttered around in the kitchen busily, putting away the groceries into the fridge and poking his head towards the pot, almost earning him a scalded nose. He wondered what the woman was doing in his apartment. The more he thought about their earlier encounter, the more curious he was. _Minato_ seemed to know Aiko personally, enough to where she had access to the living space.

"Just came back from a mission," Aiko replied casually as she moved Naruto out of the way. "Don't stick your nose in that, brat!"

Naruto stuck his tongue out at her as he flopped onto his sofa and waited for Aiko to finish cooking... and elaborate.

"... I need to make sure my little otouto eats, don't I?" she questioned, her voice so low that Naruto had to push his sense of hearing just to hear it.

"Otouto?" Naruto asked in disbelief. One look at the rather peeved expression on the kunoichi's face made Naruto dissolve into rather unmanly giggles. "We look nothing alike! How can you be my older sister?"

Aiko scowled before turning back to the ramen and pouring it into two bowls. She set them down on the small dining table and hid a smile as Naruto immediately jumped up and plopped into a chair.

"Don't you remember what we agreed on?" Naruto looked up at the young woman in confusion as he settled himself at the table. "You told me that orphans had to stick together, Minato-kun. I've visited you every day since then... are you sure that bump on the head didn't knock something loose?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly.

Aiko laughed.

XxX

The rest of the week passed uneventfully, with Naruto waking up early to go on his morning runs. He had a rather close call with Aiko when she asked Naruto why he went jogging so early, but his mind had quickly provided an answer. Laughing a little nervously, he told the kunoichi that he had decided to take his training more seriously.

Naruto was out on one of his daily runs at the moment. A few days after he had first started his training, he had familiarised himself with the current layout of Konoha and plotted out a course to run. It mostly took him to the more isolated areas of the Leaf as to avoid any unanswerable questions that could follow him.

He was passing training ground number twenty-seven, a ground reserved for Chunin, when he suddenly tripped over a stray rock. Instinctively as he plunged foward, Naruto ducked his head and pushed his right shoulder forward in a hasty roll to minimize damage. This skull had been taught to him by an exasperated Jiraiya after Naruto had started complaining that stray tree branches, rocks and long grasses were out to get him.

Naruto sat up, muttering to himself under his breath. It seemed the habit had carried over, and it was exacerbated by the unfamiliarity of a eight year old's limbs to him.

"Are you alright?" a strangely familiar voice queried with a faint rasping tone. Naruto froze before slowly raising his head, somehow dreading what he would see.

He met the slitted yellow eyes of the snake Sannin, Orochimaru. His eyes widened and he scrambled backwards, knowing that he couldn't even lay a finger on the Sannin in his current state.

"O-Oro -" he choked out, hatred starting to fill him as he remembered how the man had stolen Sasuke from beneath his very nose.

"Oi, Orochi-chan!" another startingly familiar voice called. Orochimaru scowled, although not at Naruto, and turned away from him in order to mock glare at the source of the voice.

"What is it, Jiraiya-kun?" Orochimaru scowled. "I haven't the time for your antics."

Jiraiya! The thought echoed in Naruto's mind as he stood up shakily, craning his head for a look at his former teacher.

"Hey there, kid!" Jiraiya gave him the thumbs up. "Meet the great and powerful Toad Sage, Jiraiya; me!" he struck a pose and beamed at Naruto.

"Oh, and that's Orochi-teme behind me," he added as if an afterthought. Orochimaru sighed and crossed his arms.

Despite himself, Naruto laughed, it was just so refreshing to see Jiraiya's mannerisms after so long.

"What are you screaming about over here?" a female voice complained from a little distance away. Tsunade joined her teammates, wrinkling her nose at Jiraiya.

"Why, I'm merely introducing myself to this kid here!" Jiraiya exclaimed, before leering at Tsunade. "You approve, don't you, Tsunade-hime?"

A punch later and Jiraiya was nursing a rather large bump on his head. "Don't mind him," she told Naruto. "He's just being an arse, as usual. By the way, the name's Tsunade, the pervert's Jiraiya, and it looks like you've already met Orochimaru."

Naruto grinned. "I'm Minato!" he said, pleased that he hadn't stumbled over his name. He tensed as Orochimaru spoke up, a slighty movement that did not go unnoticed by the Sannin in question.

"As interesting as this conversation must be, my teammates and I must take our leave," he said, his smooth voice sending shivers down Naruto's spine.

"Oh yeah," Jiraiya repliced, rubbing the back of his head. "Sarutobi-sensei's expecting us in five minutes."

"Sarutobi... as in the old man, Sarutobi?" Naruto interrupted, pretending ignorance. The three exchanged surprised glances with each other before Tsunade chuckled. "You've got nerve, kid," she applauded, ruffling his hair as she walked by. "Sarutobi-sensei is our teacher."

Naruto turned around to watch the Densetsu no Sannin leave, a strange feeling kindling in his heart as he looked at Tsunade and Jiraiya in particular.

XxX

Naruto bumped into Katsuo a few times at the market. Most of the time they would talk companionably until the time came to leave, parting ways and saying their mutual goodbyes to each other.

A few days later, Aiko appeared through Naruto's window just as he was pouring himself some cereal.

"You have an invitation," she told him as she kicked off her sandals at the door and plopped herself onto one of Naruto's couches, sighing in content.

"Mrgerhg?" Naruto asked through a mouthful of food. "What?"

Aiko wrinkled her nose in disgust. "That's disgusting, Minato-kun. Finish chewing before talking next time!" Naruto grinned cheekily and made an exaggerated swallowing motion. "Okay, what do you mean I have an invitation?"

Aiko sat up and faced the Uzumaki. "I was at the hospital today," she revealed. "I bumped into Tetsuya-san, who asked me to send an invitation along to you. Turns out he wants you to have dinner over at his place today."

Naruto jumped up. "Cool!" he exclaimed before his face fell. "... but what am I going to wear?"

The young woman frowned before slapping him over the head with a bit of rolled up newspaper. "Idiot," she mumbled under her breath. "Who cares what you wear? That's the kind of stuff you worry about when you get older!"

Naruto stuck his tongue out at her. "Well, all I've got are these!" he gestured at his plain white shirt. Aiko snickered, brushing him off, not deeming him old enough to have to worry about clothes.

XxX

Naruto nervously waited at the front door to the Yakushi household once he had hesitantly knocked on the front door. He was feeling rather anxious, a feeling he rarely had. It was understandable - as a child, he had never been invited to another person's place for any kind of event. He wryly remembered that even after becoming a shinobi and gaining friends, still no one had ever thought to ask for his companionship. By the time he and his friends were older, embarrassment stopped anyone from making an offer.

"Oh, hood evening, Minato-kun!" a middle-aged woman who Naruto guessed to be Katsuo's mother beamed as she wrenced the door wide open and ushdered him inside. "Dinner is just being served!"

Dinnger was a nice, quiet affair which Naruto found himself enjoying quite immensely. He and Katsuo talked together in hushes tones, plotting Sage-knows-what, while Tetsuya and Mai looked on happily.

"So, Minato-kun," Mai started. The Jinchuuriki sat up straighter and faced her. Katsuo gave his mother a look of vague annoyance, both at interrupting him and Naruto from their conversation and also the inevitable questions that were to follow. "How are you recovering from the head injury?"

Naruto smiled. "I am actually going to return to my classes at the Academy toward the start of next week," he replied.

"I get to start next week!" Katsuo piped up, flinging an arm across Naruto's shoulders, his dark brown hair brushing across Naruto's face. Naruto twitched, shrinking a little at the unexpected contact before relaxing and grinning at the older couple. Covertly, Tetsuya watched him carefully and frowned a little as he saw Naruto's almost imperceptable flinch.

'_Why did he react that way_? _It almost seems like he isn't used to physical attention, or used to being abused. Now I can't help but wonder if he really fell or if there was another reason behind his injury_.'

* * *

**I apologize for taking so long to release this chapter. I have real life problems to deal with, so my update speed may not be the quickest. But in no way, shape, or form, am I going to quit this story. I want to see it though to the end!**

**Anyone that has questions or concerns, either leave them in your review or PM. I will try and respond as quickly and nicely as possible, provided that it doesn't ruin any of the ideas that I have for the future of this story.**

**For those of you that don't like the premise of this story; Naruto becoming Minato? Well... I am not forcing you to read this story, nor am I demanding that you like, review, or share it. Whatever. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**The next chapter marks the major divergence from the original storyline and into my own, so look forward to the next chapter!**

**BluApocalyptica signing off!**


End file.
